kofi-annan – Moviefone Editorial

(Left) Kevin Costner arrives at the 15th Governors Awards in the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, November 17, 2024. Credit/Provider: Mark Von Holden / The Academy. Copyright: ©A.M.P.A.S. (Right) President Bill Clinton. Photo: Shutterstock.

Preview:

Kevin Costner and Leonardo DiCaprio are developing at TV show about the United Nations
‘United’ would focus on specific events in the organization’s history.
Costner would play Bill Clinton.

While you might think Kevin Costner would have enough on his hands trying to get more of his ‘Horizon: An American Saga’ Western movies to screens, he’s found time for other projects.

Deadline reports that Costner, along with Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way company, is developing ‘United,’ a new TV series which will chronicle different real-life issues tackled by the United Nations.

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The plan is that Costner will also play President Bill Clinton in the show, with Deadline reporting that ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’s Chukwudi Iwuji will be UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

What’s the story of ‘United’?

(L to R) Alec Baldwin and President Bill Clinton at 'Alec Baldwin: One Night Stand'. Photo: Comedy Central. — (L to R) Alec Baldwin and President Bill Clinton at ‘Alec Baldwin: One Night Stand’. Photo: Comedy Central.

The project is written and will be directed by David Raymond (‘Night Hunter’), who partnered with the UN’s Creative Community Outreach Initiative during the tenure of previous UN Secretary Ban Ki-Moon and has been working with them ever since, unearthing true stories that highlight the power of shared humanity. It’s being approached as an ongoing series dramatizing true stories of the courage and sacrifice that humanitarian staff continuously make around the world.

The presumed focus is the 1999 uprising in East Timor, which took place following a UN-organized independence referendum in the territory. East Timor was a Portuguese colony up until 1975, briefly asserting independence before being annexed by Indonesia, in an invasion supported by the administration of U.S. President Gerald Ford.

In subsequent decades, those in the territory endured military repression, famine and widespread human-rights abuses. But by the late ’90s, Indonesia was politically weakened, and the people of East Timor were allowed to vote on whether to remain within Indonesia or become independent.

President Clinton and his staff were instrumental in de-escalating the situation in East Timor after the initial referendum, liaising with leaders in Australia, Portugal and other countries affiliated with the UN to pull it off.

The series is slated to shoot in Atlanta and Spain next year.